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Long hair vs. short hair - Kirsten :o)

I have wanted Kirsten's hair to grow out so we could donate it to Locks of Love. My plan was to do that in July during the Family Reunion. Sometimes plans have to change...Kirsten has thick hair and it takes a good 20 minutes to blow dry her hair. Kirsten is NOT fond of having her hair dried for that long...but when it's long and thick it takes time! This was taken within the past week or so. For the past month her hair has been falling out. Every time I shampooed her hair and then drained the tub there was more and more hair each time. Her hair was heavy and she's been having a lot of headaches. Part of that is due to sinuses and part of that is heavy hair. Hmmm, long hair vs. short hair. By July Kirsten would have had the required 10 inches to donate. It was a nice thought, but practical matters took over.

Saturday I had her dad hold her still while I chopped 5 inches or so of her hair off. Kirsten did not enjoy that activity at all. She has a very tender scalp and cries very easily when you take too long to do her hair. Today I took her in to have her hair 'evened up' and trimmed. It took 20 minutes. They cut off another 1-1/2 inches. The gal told me I had done a pretty good job cutting it even in the short amount of time Kirsten put up with me. One side a little shorter than the other so the gal had to cut off one more inch off the back, which was fine. The shorter the better! I just need it long enough to put Kirsten's hair in a pony tail at night so she doesn't have it soaked with drool when she awakens each morning. Kirsten was so compliant and easy going and hardly moved the entire time, however she was softly sobbing and had tears, red eyes and a runny nose. The gal felt so bad. I told her it was okay. I explained that Kirsten has a very tender scalp. She was so sweet and gentle with Kirsten. I kept talking to Kirsten and giving her kisses and telling her it was 'okay to cry and we loved her so much.' When we got home I gave her a bath and shampooed her hair and blew dry it which took 7 minutes! Hooray! However it took 10 minutes to use the curling iron. Kirsten was so good for me! I hope this will slow down the hair loss process and some of her headaches. It's so much easier to do her hair now!

It only took 12 snaps to finally get a good picture! Whew! Kirsten doesn't like to have her picture taken. I could have used an extra arm or two. I was trying to keep her 'thumb out of her mouth' and snap a picture. My camera has a 3 second delay and when the battery is going down, it's seems to take forever! So this is the best picture I could get. Enjoy! She's so pretty! Side note...Kirsten turns '20' on April 2nd. Wow!

And they marched one by one...

I was out running a quick errand today and on the way home off to the side of the road was a small pond with many ducks happily sitting in the water. Off to the side there was a line of other ducks patiently and orderly marching to the pond. Each was looking forward to join the throng of other ducks on the rather crowded pond. There was no shoving, pushing to get in front of the others. Each orderly and in a straight line marched politely and slowly to the pond.

It made me stop in awe of this simple picture before me. The other ducks waiting in turn to reach the pond probably were unaware of how 'crowded' the pond was already. They were just looking forward to join in the anticipated group interaction with all their friends!

It made me think of how life is like the pond, every one in a hustle and bustle and crowded. The difference was that these ducks were peaceful and happy. Hmmm, food for thought! Be happy! Even when it's crowded!

'Happiness is an attitude!'

Mom's Getting in Shape???

Bob and Julie gave us the Wii Fit Plus for Christmas. This has been a lot of fun and I've been working our for 32 days today. Hooray for mom! I am not using our sweet daughter Kirsten for an excuse. I just have to be so careful taking her out. Winter months are not the time to do that. Her health is fragile. So, when do I exercise?

♥

I love having the Wii Fit Plus because I can do all kinds of exercises in the 'privacy' of my own home! I pretty much stick to the aerobics as I am trying to become 'more fit'. I am 5'8" tall. I have never weighed as much as I do now. I am sure when my siblings saw me at our family reunion last year they noticed I was no longer skinny. I have been thin all my life. A good weight for me at my present age is 155. Well, I will freely admit I weigh 170 pounds fully dressed! I take Kirsten to a kinesiologist and he asked how I was doing with our Wii Fit and I told him how much I weighed. He was floored! Yep! He said I did not look like I weighed 170. How kind, how kind! :o) I am tall and medium framed and carry it well. I do muscle toning exercises for 20 minutes before I begin my 30 minute routine work out on the Wii Plus. I have toned up which I am happy with. I have lost inches.

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So what am I not happy with? GRAVITY! Drats! I'm 59 and no matter how little I eat or cut out, gravity is unkind! I still have a small roll out front. Am I distressed? Not really. I like being more toned. I feel healthier. My blood pressure and HDLs and LDLs, etc. are great! It's that little spare tire I am having a little struggle with accompanying me everywhere. My goal for doing Wii Fit Plus was to tone and for the cardio. I run 1-1/2 miles 5 to 6 days a week. Yep! I run circles around that island in my house and up and down the hallway, but 'no one sees me!' :o)

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So, 'Thank you Bob and Julie' for the great gift! I invite dad all the time to join in the Wii Fit fun, but he is an armchair cheerleader!

Let's Play!

These are some of treasures in the rice and bean bins. If you look in the picture you can see a 'blue heart' and it is the hardest thing to find. The kids like finding the 'blue heart' and it usually takes awhile and grandma ends up helping them find it!

It's been awhile since I've had Kirsten play in her rice bin. She loves it and can play forever! Sometimes we put a small Little Tykes dump truck in the bin and the grand kids like 'moving' the rice around in the bin with it.

This is Kirsten's bean bin. She loves the texture of the beans and can sit forever with her beans!


Kirsten likes to have her hands buried in the rice and she likes to watch her mom set up the sand wheel and pour the rice in and watch the rice come out.

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My grand kids love to play in the rice and bean bins. When they come to grandpa and grandma's house they usually spot the bins first off and want to drag them out. I can't say that their parents are overly excited about the bins. After a short time of playing the kids like to spread the wealth (the beans or rice) onto the carpet! The younger ones under 3 like to 'sit' in the bins and have a glorious time! It's no big deal, most of the 'wealth' can be scooped up and put back into the proper bins and the rice that doesn't make it back in the bin gets vacuumed up! They sure have fun playing!

♥

Meal Swapping!

Creamy Farmhouse Soup

My daughter Michelle has the above recipe on her Gleed Cafe blog site. I have made this yummy recipe several times. I have taken it to friends when a meal was needed. They loved it! I love it!

There are times I wish my children lived closer. Wouldn't that be great if we could 'meal swap' once a month?!! You fix a meal for that family and just drop it off! Then they would do the same for you at some point in the month. It's like 'take out' and what a treat! ♥

Like today. I spent the day sweeping, vacuuming, dusting the entire house top to bottom, dusting all the baseboards and cleaning two bathrooms. Once a month I dust off all the doors including the top of the door, the door frames and we have pictured framed doors which means all those need to be dusted. I don't know about you, but dusting is at the 'bottom' of my favorite chore list! Ug! The last house we had I didn't always dust the baseboards and when we painted all those had to be cleaned. So in this house I am trying to be vigilant and keep them clean! I have no plans on painting however. That cured me for several years after repainting the entire interior of our last home. It was so pretty, but I don't want to see another paintbrush or roller!

I have been cooking up meats and freezing them so they are quick and easy to put together in a meal. But today is not one of those days I feel like cooking.

Just a random post! I have a 'BIG SMILE' on my face though, because cleaning is done! At least for a week or so. Whoo hoo! ♫